Tree House
by Anrheithwyr
Summary: It was her only means of escape, sometimes.


_**Now, for part two of 'As A Child I' challenge by fan-freak121. This one is about Lily Evans, who is around 10. Also mostly fanon. HP not mine **_

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When the Evans family had moved from Claddaghduff to Cokeworth, Mr. Evans, a kind man who worked at the local uni, was known for several things. Among these were his love of building, his long-time goal of getting rid of his accent, (at which he failed, even in old age) and his great talent of cooking nearly anything he put his mind to-but more on that later. Mr. Evans, of the perfectly acceptable age of thirty-three when he moved with his family to Cokeworth, was the husband of what most people called "Tupperware mums", the kind of women who only left the house for shopping and ridiculous clubs. He also had two daughters, seven year old Petunia, with straight blonde hair and brown eyes, wary and sharp. Not the most attractive of girls, Petunia got along by being smart and sympathizing with the other girls, showing that _she, too_, could be just as normal as they could. If there was one thing Petunia Evans could ever do, it was adapt quickly to fit her social standing. She was a decently popular girl, with enough friends that nothing truly seemed to bother her, for the first few years at least. She quickly dropped her Irish accent, picking up the local way of talking, as if she'd lived in Cokeworth forever. Lily, the younger daughter, was four when the family moved. Shy, with dark red hair and green eyes, she was practically a poster child for Ireland, a stereotype in the making. She was shy and many of the other children were convinced she couldn't talk to begin with, not before and certainly not now. Lily, even as the little girl who had never been to town, new face, was often seen walking down the side of the road with a doll or a book in her hands, looking very thoughtful and very much not the four year old she was.

One of the first additions to the Evans house was a tree house, tucked far back into the eves of trees, just roomy enough for two little girls to play tea time and dollies. And the girls often _did _go up there, admiring the view and calling for their mum to send up biscuits and sweets and, once, the family dog, Mutki. It was built by their father, who, as we mentioned, enjoyed building many things. This was not his first tree house-the first one he had ever experienced had been built by _his _father, a rather grumpy World War I soldier who was half-deaf and had a habit of shouting. But it was the first tree house Mr. Evans had ever built by himself and he was rather proud of it, regardless of Mrs. Evans' worries about one of the girls falling out and breaking a leg or a neck. Needless to say, this never happened and the tree house stayed up. (Though, funny enough, Petunia _did _break her elbow while roller skating down the street when she was eight. Her mum promptly banished all roller skates and discussed it with the other mums at the next Tupperware meetings, which was, ironically, rarely ever about Tupperware.) Both girls enjoyed the house very much and had quite a number of adventures up there.

Anyway, as I was saying. There had been a tree house in the Evans yard since, oh, three months after the family moved in. It was christened "Haose of Deelite" by a four year old Lily, ignoring her sister's qualms about writing on the walls-having recently discovered markers-and wrote the name in big letters outside, on a sign. Even later, when both girls had gotten a bit more schooling, a second sign was added, reading "Ritten by Lily Evans, age 4". (Your name and age was one of the first things they taught you in school, as it was among the most important things a child owned.) When Lily was quite a bit older-about fifteen-and brought over some girlfriends from school, it was a source of great embarrassment. But for now, that was five years away and the most Lily did was blush at the sign, wishing she had waited just a _bit _longer to write anything so permanent.

"And this is the House of Delight, or the Haose of Deelite, depending on who you ask." said Lily Evans, ten years old, waving a hand around in a grand sort of gesture, pulling her best mate up the ladder. Severus Snape took a look around, silent and observant. He had never had a tree house, his father not being the sort who did that.

"It's very creaky. What if it topples over and we all die?"

Lily laughed, opening the little door and slipping inside. "No. It's all just wood. Wood is very creaky. It's not going to topple over, Sev, you're perfectly fine."

"Hm." Severus gave the tree house another disapproving look before Lily pulled him inside-he had to duck to get in-still talking about all the times she and Tuney had come in her and play games and with toys. Severus asked, in a sort of mocking tone that young boys get when talking to young pretty girls they liked but didn't want to admit to liking, if this had ever involved dollies and Lily smiled, replying, rather hotly, that _yes, it had_ and if he wanted to, Severus could "play dollies" right now.

"No thanks." Severus replied, settling on some old leaves that had blown in from the window. "I'd rather talk about Hogwarts. Can you believe, in a year, we'll be there? We'll get to learn magic and meet wizards and do all sorts of amazing things."

"Everyone will love us because we'll be so smart."

"Yeah."

"It's a shame Tuney can't come. She'd love it, I'm sure. I wish I could teach her how to do magic and charm things and everything else. Oh, we'll get to fly _brooms_, Sev! And dragons! I've always liked dragons! Are there dragons, Sev?"

"Yeah, loads of 'em, all over the world. And giants and trolls and unicorns, too. Mermaids, elves, goblins. All of it's real, Lily. It's all real and just waiting, out there for us to come and discover it all. Can you believe it?"

"No. I can't wait."

"We'll still be friends, at school? Friends all the way?"

"Friends forever, Sev. Always and always. No matter what, you and I, we'll be best friends until we die and even then, we'll see each other in Heaven."

"Friends forever." Severus repeated with a dreamy look on his face.

"What are you doing?" snapped a voice, several years older than Lily and Severus. "Why is he here? In our house, on our property? I'm telling Mum!" It was Petunia, Lily's thirteen year old sister, who held Severus in a sort of disrespectful contempt, sneering at him every time she saw him, even in the super market. Severus treated her in kind, making faces behind their mum's back, Lily as the mediator, tearfully trying to stop them.

"It's not your tree house, Tuney, it's _mine_, too! Sev is my friend, I can have him up here if I want, there's nothing wrong with it."

"But he's a _boy_." Petunia had started secondary school a few years ago and, as their mum said "discovered boys". She had also, it seemed, realised that her sister was clearly the prettier of the two and despised the way some of the older boys around town would flirt with the ten year old red head. "Mum won't like having a _boy _up here, _alone_."

"Why is this any different than playing on the swings?"

Petunia rolled her eyes. "You're so naïve, Lily. And you-" she glared at Severus, as if daring him to cross whatever line she thought he was bordering. "I don't like you."

"I don't like you either. Why's it matter?"

"Ugh! Fine, stay up here and get this place filthy with your _weirdness_, then. See if I care!" She clambered down the ladder, running back into the house, most like to telephone a friend and complain about her little sister and her weird friend.

"Ignore her, Sev, she's just thirteen. Mum says Tuney'll grow out of it, eventually."

"I hope _your _never like that."

"Of course I won't be. How awful! It must be part of being a teenager or something."

_/_

_**My best friend in the entire (ENTIRE ENTIRE ENTIRE) world is Jane. She is awesome and understands EVERYTHING! She is the one who is writing "A Drabble a Day" with me, so everyone give her a hug. For every time someone mentions Jane in a review, she will be given a hug. (I don't like hugs) Please fund the "Hug for Jane" program by mentioning Jane in a review. ANY review. of ANY story. Including this one. :)Support the hugs, guys. **_


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